city, and finding out where they were, he sent to Rahab to deliver them up. However, instead of delivering them up, she hid them. And she said that the men had been there, but they were gone, and if they were pursued, they would soon be overtaken.

Now all this time she knew that the men were on the flat roof of her house, for so the roofs are made in that part of the world; and she had covered them over with stalks of flax, which she had laid upon the roof, to dry in the sun, in order to the beating of it, and making it ready for the wheel-a proof that she was an industrious woman.

We learn in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews that Rahab saved herself and her family by faith. She believed that God would destroy the wicked people among whom she lived, as he had already destroyed the two kings of the Amorites that were on the other side Jordan, Sihon and Og; and therefore she would not be guilty of giving up his faithful servants to perish. If this had not been a case quite out of the common way, her conduct in preserving men who were going to destroy her country would have been very wicked, and that of a traitor; but God worked upon her heart, made her kind to the spies, and so prepared the way for Joshua to take Jericho, and to save her and her family.

But, as to the lie which she told, she was to blame, for no one is justified in telling a lie as it is a wicked thing, we are sure that God did not prompt her to that. This was the means which she thought of to save the men, but God could and would have saved them, without her doing anything so wrong. What can we say for her? Why, she had lived among heathens, and, as yet, knew no better. When she afterwards would live among the Israelites, she would learn that a lie was a very wicked thing.

Having got rid of the king's officers, Rahab went upon the house-top, and made a bargain with the spies, that as she had saved them, they would, in turn, save her and her family, consisting of her father and mother, and brothers and sisters. This was very affectionate on her part, and as she had shown the spies so much kindness, they readily agreed to show kindness to her.

As it would have been dangerous for the spies to have passed through the streets, she "let them down by a cord through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall." And she told them to flee to the mountains that were near, and hide there for three days, and by that time the men who were in pursuit of them would be tired, and give up the chase, and then they might safely go home.

The spies were, however, afraid, lest by any mistake, in the hurry o battle, Rahab and her relations should be killed; and therefore, to make he safety more sure,, they agreed that she should tie a line of scarlet thread in the window, by which thread they were let down, and that all her family should be brought together under her roof, and no one should dare to venture into the street, or, if he did, his blood should be upon his own head, that is, his death would be his own fault, and not theirs. She was, also, faithfully to keep everything secret which had happened, or to lose their protection.

So the men hid in the mountains three days, when their pursuers returned; and they got safe back and told Joshua what had taken place, and what they had heard from Rahab, that the people had heard of Israel's victories, and were afraid of them. "And they said unto Joshua, truly the Lord hath delivered into our hands all the land; for even all the inhabitants of the country do faint because of us."

The next morning Joshua prepared to set off for Jericho. And he came to Jordan with all Israel, and after three days the officers went through the host, and desired them to follow the ark of the covenant, which the Levites should carry before them. This ark was a sign of God's presence amongst them, and that he was their chief guide. They were to keep at the distance of two thousand cubits or three thousand feet, a little more than half a mile, so that the priests and Levites who bore the ark might not be crowded, and the ark itself could be seen more distinctly by the whole people than if they all crowded close to it.

So the day following, the priests and the Levites "took up the ark of the covenant and went before the people."

And God told Joshua that he would now honor him by a wonderful miracle, which should show Israel that he had chosen him to lead Israel, as he had before chosen Moses.

And Joshua told Israel what God would do for them, and that, as soon as the priests who bore the ark should touch the brink of the river with their feet, the waters of Jordan should stand upon an heap on one side, so as not to flow down their channel; while those on the other side should continue running without any fresh supply; and so the bed, or bottom of the river, should be dry for Israel to pass over, as the Red Sea had before been for their fathers with Moses. Joshua also ordered twelve men to be selected, perhaps to go near and witness this miracle, for the entire satisfaction of the rest.

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So the priests moved forward and stood in Jordan; and the waters dried up as Joshua had foretold, although this happened at the time of harvest, when the river overflowed its banks, from the great quantity of water; which made the miracle the more wonderful. "And all the Israelites passed over on dry ground, until all the people were passed clean over Jordan."

The number of the Israelites at this time was six hundred thousand men, besides women and children, which was, indeed, a vast army; yet it is wonderful that the Canaanites did not watch them and try to stop their crossing of Jordan. But perhaps they thought they could not pass the river where they did; and if they saw that the waters yielded to make way for them, it was quite enough to frighten them, alarmed as they already were, and to make them run away wherever they could for safety.

It is usual, in all countries, to erect monuments and statues to commemorate great historical events; thus we have the Bunker Hill monument in Charlestown, Mass.; the Lincoln and Washington monuments in New York; the Washington and Battle monuments in Baltimore; the statues in Washington, monuments in Richmond and Lexington, Va., etc.

The passing over Jordan by the Israelites was one of these events which deserved commemoration, and Joshua, therefore, commanded twelve men, one from each tribe, and probably the same men spoken of before, to take twelve stones from the spot where the priests' feet had stood and to carry them to their first lodging-place over Jordan, where they were to leave them. And so, when at any future time their children should ask, "What mean you by these stones?" they should be told "that the waters of Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the Lord when it passed over Jordan, and that the stones were a memorial unto the children of Israel forever."

Joshua also set up twelve other stones "in the midst of Jordan, in the place where the feet of the priests which bore the ark of the covenant stood;" and there they were when the Book of Joshua was written.

All the people having passed over, including the children of Reuben and Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh, who passed over before the rest, being about forty thousand prepared for war, Joshua then ordered the priests to come out of Jordan, and its waters immediately flowed as before. So "On that day the Lord magnified Joshua in the sight of all Israel," and owned him as his servant appointed to lead Israel; "and they feared (or honored) him, as they feared Moses, all the days of his life."

And the people encamped in a place which they called Gilgal, in the cast borders of Jericho, where the twelve stones brought out of the river were

pitched, "That all the people of the earth might know the hand of the Lord, that it is mighty;" and so fear the Lord God of Israel forever.

The drying up of Jordan must have been seen for some miles, and the news of the wonderful event, with the passage of the Israelites, soon spread among the Canaanites and filled them with the greatest alarm, "neither was there spirit in them any more, because of the children of Israel."

And God now commanded Joshua to mark the Israelites of the new generation with the sign of his covenant with them, and they kept a solemn passover, which they had been denied in their wanderings in the wilderness. The country people naturally fled away from the invading armies, and all their corn in the field and in store became the property of the Israelites, who took it and fed upon it, as part of their promised possession, given them by that God who caused it to grow; and having no more need of manna, that miraculous supply of food ceased, and "they did eat of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year."

The fifth chapter closes with an account of a wonderful appearance to Joshua. The person who appeared to him while he was, perhaps, thoughtfully looking around Jericho and contriving how to take it, was no common being, or he would not have worshipped him; and from the command to take off his shoe, which was an act of reverence, it was that Angel who appeared in the burning bush to Moses. He now told Joshua that he had come as Captain of the Lord's host, and Joshua might well be encouraged with the assurance that God would fight for him, and give him the promised land for his people.

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The Taking of Jericho.

JOSHUA VI.

HEN the people of Jericho saw the armies of Israel coming, they shut up the strong gates of their city; but though this would have preserved them from usual danger, yet now that God had given them up to Israel, nothing could save them.

But the city was to be taken in a very wonderful way, to show that, after all, the hand of God was in it.

Joshua had no orders to batter it, or scale its walls. The men of war were only to march round it once a day for six days; and the ark was to be carried round, and seven priests were to march before it, blowing seven